OLYMPIC CHAMPION MICHAEL Johnson proved he's superbad--a
superior athlete of gargantuan proportions; a classy, genuine
superdude, er...superstar. John Pergamo, the Warholian-inspired
"rock star" who wrote, produced, engineered and performed
this tongue-in-cheek, novelty New Wave cum schlock-rock, is simply
a superdud. Pergamo's Superdude schtick resembles Tim Curry wrasslin'
with Meatloaf over the last morsel of barbecued bimbo at the Slime-O-Rama
diner: all fat and grease and no brains--devoid of any nourishment.
This sterile sounding, heavily programmed retro-'80s dance-rock
goulash is as fresh and lively as a flock of dead seagulls. If
you wanna good chuckle then check this out, it's a goof. Credit
goes to the eccentric (or insane) Pergamo for having the balls
to call himself Super-anything.

GREAT CONCEPT; EVEN better execution. The idea was for
singer-songwriter O'Brien to cover some of his favorite Bob Dylan
tunes (conceived by some record executive who always wondered
what the Great One was mumbling about?). It's wonderful to finally
understand those lyrics, but the performances by O'Brien and cohorts
easily eclipse that little pleasure. Red On Blonde goes
back to Dylan's folk roots and takes his work into a variety of
tradition-based styles. "Tombstone Blues" gets a driving
bluegrass treatment, while Mark Schatz's hambone punctuates O'Brien's
"acoustic hillbilly rap" rendition of "Subterranean
Homesick Blues." "Masters Of War" is molded into
a powerful, old-timey plaint. All tribute albums should sound
so good.

--Pam Parrish

ELECTROFUNK

Volumes One and Two
Priority Records

THIS ANTIQUATED REVIEWER'S knowledge of funk relates more
to the era when turntables played rather than made music, and
Bootsy's bass had yet to succumb to the synth pulsing created
by Kraftwerk and affordable samplers. And while preferring to
remain in the P-Funk Army, I have to admit that the extended dance
mixes presented here show '80s funk to be a sister to rap's legitimate
updating of folk music: Only one voice and two hands on a board
of knobs can sound like an entire band. Grandmaster Flash and
Pretty Tony head several cuts, as does the impressive Afrika Bambaataa.
These two reissue collections will probably serve as memories
for young funksters, and a history lesson for us older ones.